Kyla Thomas, Period 1,The plastic plague: Can our oceans be saved from environmental ruin?

Summary: This article is about how plastic in our oceans are damaging to the health of the fish and sea creatures that live in them. Not only does the improper disposal of plastic in the oceans effect the fish, but it could be hazardous to human health as well. A place called Tuvalu used to be a pristine beauty spot, but with the people that living there making the ground their own personal trash can, the population of the area was in decline. When people tried to burn the trash, they were exposed to extremely hazardous gases that can cause cancer. 5 had cancer and 2 died within 18 months. The plastic in the oceans is just as dangerous. Studies have shown that every year 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans. Since plastic does not biodegrade, it will likely be hard to get rid of, which is killing off species. "We kept coming across dead chicks," Ruxton recalls of Howe Island. Not only can an entire species or fish in the oceans become extinct, but humans will also not have a lack of protein that they get from the fish that live in the sea.

Analysis: This article was created by Kieron Monks for CNN. The author's viewpoint on this situation is that a "Plastic Ocean" should be stopped before coming into fruition. This article is relatively new, which shows that this issue is relevant and  has the potential to be put to a halt. Prior to reading this article, I knew that plastic bottles contain BPA which have been linked to diseases in adults. This assisted with my understanding of how dangerous plastics can be. This article is written to target everyone. Littering is a major issue and everyone in some way is involved. Trash should be properly disposed of and I believe that it has a positive influence on the audience. Because this article uses somewhat of a scare tactic, people would be more open to making a conscious effort to reduce their improper disposal of trash. The article was written to inform the reader of the negative effects of the pollution of our oceans and to bring an end to this issue. This article had a significant amount of importance because if the rate at which plastic bottles and other trash entered the oceans continued, there will be more trash in our oceans than actual sea creatures. Its best that we raise awareness now before its too late. It's relevant because it has an impact on our health. In relation to US History, water pollution intensified with the introduction of the Industrial Revolution when factories began to release gases and pollutants to the waterways. As a result, the Clean Water Act was put in order to reduce water pollution, which in turn, kept the animals in the ocean safe. Hopefully, today we can create a system such as that to make sure that this pattern in history doesn't continue.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/world/plastic-plague-oceans/index.html